Major fintech companies APAC 2022, by total funding amount

Ant Group was the largest fintech company in the Asia-Pacific region in 2021, with total funding of around 22 billion U.S. dollars. Ant Group is an affiliate company of Alibaba Group and operates Alipay, the world's largest mobile and online payments platform. Fintech, or financial technology, is an emerging industry that uses digital technology to provide financial services.

 Decline of fintech investments 

Funding of startups can come from various investment sources in different funding rounds, such as private equity and venture. Worldwide investments in fintech companies saw a significant decline in 2020. The decrease is also reflected in fintech investments in the Asia Pacific region, where the year started off as expected and proceeded to decline. Nonetheless, private equity investments in Asia Pacific increased moderately compared to 2019.

 Digital payments and banking in Asia Pacific

    A good deal of leading fintech companies in the Asia Pacific region is in the digital payment industry. Digital payments transaction value in China reached over 2.3 billion U.S. dollars in 2020. However, increased regulations in China may affect the operations of fintech companies like Ant Group’s IPO being suspended in 2020. Banking and wealth management are also shifting to digital platforms, as Hong Kong now has eight digital banks as of January 2021. Traditional banks are following suit by expanding their digital capabilities.